3 Thoughts: Seton Hall shot down by Rutgers

Kadary Richmond led Seton Hall with 21 points, but Pirates could not withstand Rutgers Saturday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

NEWARK, N.J. — The Garden State Hardwood Classic, no matter where it's been played over the last eight years since Steve Pikiell took over at Rutgers, has brought out the best in both fanbases, and Saturday night in Newark represented the eighth straight sellout in the series.

But the game at Prudential Center only brought out the best in the red team on this night, as the Scarlet Knights had their best shooting night of the season while the Pirates' offense scuffled, with the visitors never trailing in a 70-63 result that represented Rutgers' first win in Newark since 2013.

Considering the three-ball on paper was the biggest decider of the game, here are 3 Thoughts from the 74th edition of the all-New Jersey rivalry:

1. Weird Vibes

Rivalry games tend to bring out the best in players, but it also brings weird stuff out of the woodwork. The first half on Saturday was exactly that. Rutgers has been a 31 percent 3-point shooting team this season, and the Scarlet Knights proceeded to shoot 7-for-14 from beyond the arc, buoying them to a 33-25 lead.

Seton Hall, conversely, has been about the same from deep, but the Pirates have made up for it by being an excellent free throw shooting team this season, at around 80 percent as a unit. That's the best mark I can remember from the Pirates, and yet, Seton Hall, despite the home atmosphere, missed more shots at the stripe than it made in the first 20 minutes, going 5-for-12.

My words for the first half? Go figure.

But it continued into the second half. This time, it was the timeliness of the threes that made the difference. Rutgers hit threes on its first two possessions to deny Seton Hall any sort of momentum out of the break (more on that in a second), and later in the half, Noah Fernandes and Jamichael Davis hit backbreakers as Rutgers built up its lead to double digits and never looked back from there. 

Shaheen Holloway put it pretty succinctly after the game. 

“We knew they had a couple guys that could make shots,” the head coach said. “I thought we did a good job controlling the paint a little bit, not letting them get baskets in the paint, but then they hit those threes. You hit 12 threes? Nobody's winning, especially not in a game like this where it's a rock fight.”

2. False Start, Pirates

Seton Hall has not been a great team to start games this season overall, but that was magnified tonight. What saved the Pirates for the moment in the first half was that Rutgers similarly started cold before microwaving its dormant 3-point game, and it was a relatively close game in the first half until the Scarlet Knights got a little bit of a cushion before halftime. 

But when it happened again in the second half, it changed the game. Rutgers canned back-to-back threes and got one of seven Cliff Omoruyi blocks on the other end, forcing Holloway to call timeout and try to regroup his team.

Both Kadary Richmond and Dre Davis cited the energy edge that Rutgers had, particularly in the first half, as the main difference in the game. Holloway went a little further.

“I don't think my guys understood the magnitude of this game,” he said in the postgame press conference. “All our new guys, they don't know the rivalry, and how important it is. Obviously, I thought (Rutgers) did a good job, their guys understood that. But we didn't. I thought we came out and played a little timid.”

That set the Pirates back immediately on a day where the fans showed up and wanted to cheer, but just never had the chance to do so. It's one of the most difficult things in the sports world to go into a hostile environment and never let the crowd in the game. Rutgers accomplished this tonight, but had some help from the home team, as Holloway said. 

3. Kooks Needs Sous Chefs

This game was also a pretty well-defined illustration of what high-level basketball teams need to be successful. Richmond was his usual, talented self, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds, and four assists while also drawing eight fouls (by far the most on the floor for either team). 

But the Hall's supporting cast just didn't do enough to counter Rutgers effectively. Davis ended up with 12 points and six rebounds, and drew five fouls himself, but missed four free throws out of 10 attempts. Al-Amir Dawes just could not get anything to drop, hoisting 15 threes and only connecting on three of them. 

The other starters, Jaden Bediako and Dylan Addae-Wusu, worked hard, but the former is not a main scorer for the team while the latter's attempts to attack the basket were rebuffed by the Joe Calabrese Most Valuable Player of the game in Omoruyi. Conversely, Rutgers had four players in double figures, led by Fernandes' 19, and nearly had five, with Aundre Hyatt finishing with nine points. Strong defense and balanced scoring can lead to a lot of very, very good things, and Rutgers got its efforts from multiple sources while Seton Hall was left wanting more from its secondary options around their star point guard.

This is not to put it all on one player, far from it, as Holloway noted “a couple of guys who need to do more for us.” But of all of those options that the Pirates have, it's Dawes who has the highest potential to score, and as the team's best threat to stretch opposing defenses and keep them honest, it's Dawes who's also the most important secondary scorer on the team.

The skipper believes that he can get the talented guard to diversify his game to better be that critical leader the team needs in games like tonight's contest.

“I'm not going to tell a guy who's a 40 percent 3-point shooter for his career not to shoot the basketball,” Holloway said of Dawes’ night from deep. “But as a player, you have to have a feel for the game, too. If your shot's not going (down), you've got to do other things. That's what we're going to do (this) week, we're going to watch film with him and make sure he sees opportunities to drive the basketball, and make plays for others.”

The Pirates will look to put the loss behind them on Tuesday night, when Holloway’s old MAAC rival King Rice and Monmouth come to Prudential Center.